Sherlock (SPOILERS for 4x03 The Final Problem)

I thought the first episode of this series was mediocre at best, on a par with the wedding episode; the second was one of the best they've ever done. So I had high hopes for last night.

I liked the conception: who Eurus is, I liked the glass-isn't-there scene. I liked the metaphor of the girl in the plane: Eurus seems in control of everyone and everything but actually is this little girl out of control who only ever wanted her big brother Sherlock to play with her/look after her. I loved Moriarty posing to Queen on the beach. The opening scene with the clown and Mycroft was excellent, and the conception that Eurus ended up more or less unable to speak but could communicate with Sherlock through music was poignant and beautifully done.

I couldn't engage with a lot of the rest, though. The Molly scene was brilliantly acted by both of them but there was no follow-up, no payoff even in the "everything's fine again" sequence at the end. The series of puzzles just felt a bit silly - the song and the gravestones would have done (and was very Holmes-family, unlike the others). Did we really need all the dilemmas (without so much as a Mary option, her being dead)?

There were no major consequences for any of the characters we've come to know. Despite attempts at tricksiness it was all very linear. It left me a bit flat, at best, and I'm quite disappointed.

As an insight into Sherlock - not genetically sociopathic after all, but driven there by the repressed death of his childhood friend - it was well conceived. Was he texting Irene Adler at the end? What will happen to poor Molly?

I hope they do make more as sometimes it's up there with the best television around. But this season was patchy for me: mediocre start, brilliant middle, meh end.

Posted By: Old Man, Jan 16, 10:30:51